Nine out of ten mountain bikers agree that riding downhill is more fun than climbing. Just kidding, I made that up. It’s probably closer to ten out of ten. While most of us agree that descending is the fun part, some of us like to take it slow and savor the flow while others like to gun and be done. So tell us how you roll!
Question for the comments: Are you the fastest, slowest, or middlest descender in your riding group?
After two people I know had crashes with serious injuries, I try to be a little cautious. Live to ride another day.
Situational…
Situational based on conditions and sightlines. I typically go about as fast as I can see ahead of me when trail riding and about 7-8/10’s in DH parks.
Being from Florida, I only get legit DH while traveling, and I generally ride a bit more cautious when on the road. Don’t want to ruin the trip with a injury. That said, I’m usually chasing my wife!
Descending needs a certain energy to work — so that you don’t have to start pedaling on short uphill sections and you have enough energy to go over rough sections smoothly.
Some call this energy “speed”, but I think of it as “momentum”.
This trickery is so that I can justify going as slow as possible — while still retaining enough energy to clear features and obstacles.
If you opt for this method you need to focus more on Trials skills than Racing prowess.
Modern BTB racers can jump over very impressive obstacles, often landing on bad runouts, and while this makes for exciting videos, it’s not my ambition.
Just be careful NOT to go too slowly, loose momentum, stall out and wipe!
Enjoy the views that are now visible………..
When nobody is around and the light and conditions are right, just fast enough to drift both tires. I suppose a younger person on a f/s bike is going faster on the straights, like I used to, but the hardtail is a real handful at my age. With a 1000 watt motor, it’s a handful uphill. The other day I could hear a guy kept coming close to me on the straights. So distracting I pulled over and let him past. Now I see the advantage of 29” wheels. Mine is 26 X 24….I’m just 5’7”, I like a smaller bike. And I must do some with the compression shims on the Manitou Circus…it a jump fork and they are serious about that. I get a little over half the travel of 130mm. You can go very fast after you hands go numb…
When nobody is around and the light and conditions are right, just fast enough to drift both tires. I suppose a younger person on a f/s bike is going faster on the straights, like I used to, but the hardtail is a real handful at my age. With a 1000 watt motor, it’s a handful uphill. The other day I could hear a guy kept coming close to me on the straights. So distracting I pulled over and let him past. Now I see the advantage of 29” wheels. Mine is 26 X 24….I’m just 5’7”, I like a smaller bike. And I must do some with the compression shims on the Manitou Circus…it a jump fork and they are serious about that. I get a little over half the travel of 130mm. You can go very fast after you hands go numb…I am 70 after all.